Ouija: Origin of Evil” is a pseudo prequel to the 2013 movie “Ouija,” an “adaptation” of the Hasbro board game of the same name.

“Origin of Evil” takes place in 1967 and stars Elizabeth Reaser as Alice Russel, a medium/con artist who has a terrifying encounter with the occult when her youngest daughter is possessed by a demon after playing with a Ouija board.

The movie does a better job of setting up its main characters as likeable people than most horror movies, and it also goes to great lengths to establish its period setting.

The actors are also a cut above standard low budget horror fare, with everyone doing an admirable job with some admittedly cliché material.

Unfortunately, that is about where the positives end with “Origin of Evil,” as the rest of the movie relies on half-baked ideas and tired horror tropes.

Every plot beat from every standard ghost movie this side of “Paranormal Activity” is explored here, giving the movie a strong feeling of “been there done that.” The pacing is mercilessly slow as well, taking nearly half of its hour and 40 minute runtime for anything remotely scary to happen.

The real scares are few and far between here, with most of the horror coming from cheap jump scares and some occasionally creative imagery.

The acting and setting are commendable for a movie of this type, but the rest of the film is so stale that it’s hard to recommend it to anyone.

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